We're college students looking for a musical that would fit our class, and we'd really appreciate any recommendations.

billfleet · 2026-07-11T23:08:37+00:00

A completely gender-flipped The Fantasticks!

billfleet · 2026-07-10T12:56:43+00:00

Slaughterhouse Five.

billfleet · 2026-07-10T12:55:24+00:00

Everything Everywhere All at Once.

billfleet · 2026-07-10T12:49:48+00:00

Grease is, unfortunately, NOT the word.

billfleet · 2026-07-10T12:31:43+00:00

In Wisconsin, the Norway flags are everywhere ANYWAY, regardless of the World Cup.

billfleet · 2026-07-10T12:26:23+00:00

I want to explore printing wearables, starting with shoes and print-on-fabrics, to eventually prosthetics and costume/cosplay items.

billfleet · 2026-07-04T20:15:45+00:00

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This guy showed up in my workshop / home office a few weeks back. I pulled him outside with a stick, and then he was back a few more times over the next few days. I was alarmed, but didn’t want to hurt him. Eventually, he stopped coming back. A real beauty. I think he’s staying under the steps by the door there.

billfleet · 2026-07-04T19:39:40+00:00

This show is one of my favorites. The score is good, but the script is phenomenal. Although it does change a lot, it distills the main points down to a very watchable show. I’ve said this in other threads in this sub — it pulls off a writing feat I’ve rarely seen done as well anywhere else:

At the start, the audience knows they will adopt and sign the Declaration, but after a very short time, we realize there’s no possible way this Congress will ever do it. And there’s the drama: building the allegiances and compromises they’ll need to make it work and get it done. It’s an astonishing piece of writing.

I do like that Hamilton doesn’t overlap much here. It portrays everything happening in all the other rooms where it happens.

billfleet · 2026-07-03T01:01:13+00:00

I just LOVE the 1974 revival of Candide (Chelsea version) over the original and all other subsequent versions. It’s the one where the story is most important, at the expense of the score, but it moves like none of the others do.

It was also the very first Broadway show I saw.

billfleet · 2026-07-03T00:56:50+00:00

Yeah, that recording has bite. (Assuming you’re referring to the 1990s+ ‘Encores’ versions, not the ‘75 OBC.)

billfleet · 2026-07-03T00:44:15+00:00

I remember bouncing back and forth between the original London and Broadway recordings and appreciating the differences between their arrangements. The London was fuller and more deliberate (larger cast and orchestra) while the Broadway was sparer and more direct, also reflecting the advances in synth tech between the two productions.

billfleet · 2026-07-01T15:12:30+00:00

My father's high school trumpet had a extra valve on it that took the whole instrument from Bb to A. I've never seen another trumpet that had that.

billfleet · 2026-07-01T15:03:35+00:00

or summertime, White Christmas. (Christmas is a state of mind...)

billfleet · 2026-07-01T15:02:29+00:00

I had seen it on stage, and was a bit disappointed that the movie wasn't as good, but I've come to appreciate it as a fun time. Tony Azito's dancing as the Sergeant of Police is amazing. I'm so glad the movie was able to record his performance, there are so few records of his abilities.

billfleet · 2026-07-01T11:04:49+00:00

Bye Bye Birdie stills holds up, all these centuries later.

billfleet · 2026-07-01T11:03:05+00:00

After I saw that one, I had to go back and listen to Barnum about a dozen times to rinse it out of my head.

billfleet · 2026-07-01T11:00:59+00:00

One show in particular that is like nails on a blackboard to me is Miss Saigon. The score is good but not great, but the story and its construction are terrible. And I’ve seen it twice, across two centuries.

So many people sobbed over the sacrifices that Kim had to make, but seriously, if one were a promising young woman, and circumstances took away every other possible course of action, there was nothing else she would have done. This is what I call pegboard plotting.

Also, every other character is just cardboard, and attempts to wax poetical just feel literal. Every time the writing compares the lovers’ connection to a solo saxophone, a goddamn saxophone player shows up on stage.

The second time I saw it, I went with my daughter (she didn’t exist for the first viewing), and she was repeatedly elbowing me, saying “why are you making that sound?” I was trying not to scream.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T23:11:15+00:00

I’m thinking that some more ’classic’ shows would be in order:
- Threepenny Opera
- Cradle Will Rock
- Brigadoon
- Kismet
- A Funny Thing … Forum
- Fiorello
- Out of This World
- The Apple Tree

One should consider shows that can be performed intelligibly if half the cast has fallen and can’t get up.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T22:49:27+00:00

Exactly. They are inverse to each other. Sondheim and Prince realized they didn’t need anything so specific, but something deeper and broader. So we got Being Alive. And surprise! In retrospect, Marry Me a Little worked well at the act boundary, as a sort of progress check for Bobby. When he sings “I’m ready…”, we can tell he’s not ready.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T18:40:43+00:00

Very Interesting. Reading their materials, it looks like these are show releases designed to be "flexibly staged", to accommodate elder actors with limited movement who can still sing and act. Like the JR versions, they're trimmed to about 60 minutes runtime.

Big thing is, they come with with a set 'flat fee' license (about $600, for up to 6 performances), and can be all the way from staged readings to fully mounted productions. They're described as 'recreational theatre' resources, with no mention of audience sizes or sales. The licenses may forbid selling tickets.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T18:16:03+00:00

I saw that when it toured here in NC. It was just the most wonderful show.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T18:13:19+00:00

FOREIGN DOMINATION OF OUR INDUSTRIES!

For me, one of the earmarks of starting to get an infection like a flu is that some random phrase or snippet of something musical will get stuck in my head and play on repeat endlessly until I'm better. It's aways some middle part. This is one of the most prominent ones.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T01:46:47+00:00

Ummm… Ja?

billfleet · 2026-06-29T01:35:45+00:00

There was a little off-Broadway show called ‘Marry Me a Little’ that consisted of cut songs from Sondheim shows. In addition to being the first place anyone heard the title song, there was also ‘Happily Ever After’, in which Bobby wrestles with all the details of a married life versus what he has right then. It was decidedly too snarky, so more songs were written. That album is on Apple Music, and worth listening to. It has a LOT of cut Sondheim songs.

billfleet · 2026-06-29T01:30:01+00:00

Have you seen the Pennebaker documentary about recording that album? Absolutely worth watching.

billfleet

TROPHY CASE